This last week I managed to pry a few days from work to join some friends for four days of motorcycle heaven.
My definition of that lofty place is all about sunny days, winding roads through incredible scenery or by another name the mighty Ozarks of North-western Arkansas.
Now I've been all over most of the USA and Canada including the Rocky mountains in the West, the Dragon's Tail in the East and down to the Twisted Sisters in central Texas.
The fact is that for most of the planet if a road is good for motorcycling it has traffic and traffic on scenic highways usually means those large very slow homes with motors.
This seems to be an almost unalterable law of nature.
Arkansas on the other hand seems to have a bounty of curvy, windy roads that are well marked and in good condition with almost nobody on them and when you do come up behind someone they usually make a point of pulling off and letting you by.
Over the years, I've stayed in a number of towns in the Arkansas Northwest and ridden all over the Ozarks.
I've yet to be disappointed.
In this latest iteration we stayed in Hot Springs with most of the riding based off of highway #7 with loops to Magazine mountain and Paris.
As an added bonus there was also supposed to be a motorcycle rally here in Hot Springs to benefit the wounded warrior program but I'm afraid it didn't amount to much.
I got the t-shirt and did my bit for the cause but I believe it was this show's first year and they didn't do very much in the way of promotion.
The lack of crowds and the fact that even the hotel next door to the site of the motorcycle rally where we were staying didn't know about it seems to support my statement.
All that aside, I still enjoyed the show, got to talk with a number of folks who are as passionate about motorcycling as I am.
My only fear is that they had such a poor showing that they give up and don't try next year.
I think all they need to do is promote it a bit better and they'd have as big a crowd as they handle.
Hot Springs is only a few hours away from a lot of major population centers including Dallas Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, and Little Rock.
There is very little excuse for such a poor showing.
Lets hope they can pull it together for next year, after all they're in the middle of motorcycle heaven.